Hi from Oregon!

Hi! I'm Suzanne and I found Frugal Village a couple of years ago while looking for ways to get my finances under control. Up until a couple months ago I was working and going to school full time (just got my degree (finally, at 48!) and now that I've actually got some free time I'm not completely sure what to do with it! (Plenty to be done, just need to get myself into some sort of routine I think.) When I first joined this site, I was very challenged at balancing my checkbook but I've since cured that thanks to Quicken and better record-keeping on my part. That was a major victory to me because it was causing the finances to spiral out of control and that was creating lots of friction between me and the hubby even though we keep our finances separate. These days I'm looking at how to reduce expenses, get out of debt (doing okay at paying down the credit cards but have a huge honkin' student loan debt that I'm going to have to start paying on real soon...dreading that!), want to establish an emergency fund, and just generally be more self-sufficient and stop lining corporate pockets to the extent possible. I also want to learn to sew and can and quilt and all those great things women used to do before we became so "liberated". Not sure what I have to contribute here, so guess will have to figure that out as I go along. As I mentioned, I'm 48. I currently live in the Portland, Oregon area and am originally from Louisville, Kentucky. I have 3 children and 7 grandchildren, all living on the opposite side of the country so don't get to see them very much. I live with my husband and our two cats and our two very big dogs. I'm an accountant, work full-time, getting a little weary of being told at work we have to "do more with less" (give me a break...we were already doing more with less...on the other hand I'm thankful I have a job to complain about!), and wishing I could retire or at least be a SAHM to the puppies. I like to crochet and I've been learning to knit, enjoy movies, cooking, getting together with friends, concerts and hockey. Enough about me....everyone here has such informative and inspring posts and I'm just looking forward to continuing to learn from all of you!

Enjoy your time in Portland, visit Powells and Coffee People (if it still exists?) for me!

Sadly, Coffee People is now Starbucks. I love to go to Powells, a little too much at times. I could spend days and a small fortune there! (For those who aren't familiar with Powells, it's this ginormous bookstore the size of an entire city block. Truly an amazing place.)